Target keeps blowing himself up

[vorius]

I'm trying to take down the Schooner "Shooter" in a quest to get vengeance for a woman, but everytime I get close to this thing they just blow themselves up! "Schooner 'Shooter' exploded the powder room."

How do I get around this?

The only way I can board the ship is when he has the advantage, then I get my ass kicked on the deck. So I've been trying to widdle his crew down using grape but he blows himself up once I get the advantage.

 

[Meph]

I'm trying to take down the Schooner "Shooter" in a quest to get vengeance for a woman, but everytime I get close to this thing they just blow themselves up! "Schooner 'Shooter' exploded the powder room."

How do I get around this?

The only way I can board the ship is when he has the advantage, then I get my ass kicked on the deck. So I've been trying to widdle his crew down using grape but he blows himself up once I get the advantage.

You may have tried this but could u get 4 fighters with you and stock them up with loads and loads of health potions etc?
You could then perhaps over power the many fighters by slogging it out. grab urself a corner so only a few can reach u at a time.

I'm not as far through as you sadly so this may be not be of help. I use the corner trick when outnumbered and have beat 8/10 guys after me with patience and health potions.

 

[Lanark]

try to get the "musket volley" skill, kills enemy sailors when you board them, that should give you
some more advantage.

 

[vorius]

You may have tried this but could u get 4 fighters with you and stock them up with loads and loads of health potions etc?
You could then perhaps over power the many fighters by slogging it out. grab urself a corner so only a few can reach u at a time.

I'm not as far through as you sadly so this may be not be of help. I use the corner trick when outnumbered and have beat 8/10 guys after me with patience and health potions.

Hmm, good idea - I will have to try that! Though at the time, I only had 4 officers, 2 of which had any decent fighting skills.

I cheated on this one, I used the God mode cheat.

There was just no other way I could have gotten past this.

But sounds like you are really awesome at fighting - 8/10 guys in one battle ?! I don't know how anyone can fight more than one target. I always get my ass handed to me fighting more than 1 guy unless I find a bottleneck where it is only 1 guy able to swing at me at a time. But I have never found such bottlenecks on ship decks yet. I imagine in a corner you have at least 2 of them swinging at you simultaneously! I have tried those instances many times, but always fail. It's always one guy piercing me to interrupt my moves or one guy doing a big overhand swing to break my block. What is your strategy in such situation?

 

[Meph]

well a pistol is very useful as they cant block or interrupt it. so you're doing some damage already with that, sitting behind block. the overhead swings, sometimes u can get away with watching for the one who is about to and quick slashing. otherwise, just have ur defence up with a curaiss and bash the overhead button, u'll tend to get one within three, with a finger always poised above 'x' for the potions.

Take it slow, hold 'space' whenever ur not swinging

 

[vorius]

The energy is usually what kills me. I have 110 Energy and I guess it never goes up with rank increases as it's the same amount I have had since Rank 1 (now Rank 5). So if I try just doing my overhead bash I may kill one guy then my energy is gone and I have to sit there blocking during which time they do their overhead and hack me to bits. Sometimes I try the fein when I see them doing an overhead (SHIFT + Middle Mouse button) but usually the other guy pierces me as soon as I try.

I only had 1 Personal Ability awarded to me so far which I used on Basic Defense.

 

[Handel]

The energy is usually what kills me. I have 110 Energy and I guess it never goes up with rank increases as it's the same amount I have had since Rank 1 (now Rank 5). So if I try just doing my overhead bash I may kill one guy then my energy is gone and I have to sit there blocking during which time they do their overhead and hack me to bits. Sometimes I try the fein when I see them doing an overhead (SHIFT + Middle Mouse button) but usually the other guy pierces me as soon as I try.

I only had 1 Personal Ability awarded to me so far which I used on Basic Defense.

For massacres use only light weapons. They do little damage but will last much longer. Also don't try to sink the ship if you plan to board it. Instead use grapeshot. The enemy blow their ships only if they are under 10% health left.

 

[vorius]

For massacres use only light weapons. They do little damage but will last much longer. Also don't try to sink the ship if you plan to board it. Instead use grapeshot. The enemy blow their ships only if they are under 10% health left.

Ah, so THAT's the key! See I was using grape the whole time (my stats suck so I barely can kill a sailor per salvo it seems) but in the meantime my companion was plugging away at the thing with his bombs and cannon balls!

Wish I could tell them what ammunition to use....

Thanks!

 

[Thagarr]

Ah, so THAT's the key! See I was using grape the whole time (my stats suck so I barely can kill a sailor per salvo it seems) but in the meantime my companion was plugging away at the thing with his bombs and cannon balls!

Wish I could tell them what ammunition to use....

Thanks!

In a way, you can tell them what ammo to use... before you enter the battle, sail along side and transfer cargo between your ships. If you only want them to use grape, take all the balls, chain and bombs, then they have no choice but to use grape!

I agree, musket volley is a must for boarding! the Also, look for totems to help you with your swordplay and defense, they are really handy to have! There is a bit of a rhythm to the sword fighting, the way I do it is block until I am ready to attack, wait till just after your opponent draws back from his attack and then strike. Normal attacks won't get through your block as long as you have a decent sword, and the big hits are survivable as long as you carry a plentiful supply of potions. Also, if you can trap your opponents in front of you on a stairway, only one or two at a time will be able to attack you. There have been many times I have used this tactic to finish off 15 or 20 opponents when boarding much bigger ships.

 

[vorius]

Also, if you can trap your opponents in front of you on a stairway, only one or two at a time will be able to attack you. There have been many times I have used this tactic to finish off 15 or 20 opponents when boarding much bigger ships.

Yeah I try this tactic but what ends up happening is for example I am up on a second deck and I am fighting a enemy pirate on the stairs to the deck, so only he can engage me. But his buddies behind him and running around frantically on the lower deck and they actually push him into me and within a few seconds they manage to squeeze on the same deck.

 

[Thagarr]

I know what you mean, the crowd pushes pretty good. When that happens, turn and run over to the the stairway on the other side of the ship, or the other end, and do it again. The enemy AI is just as dumb as your companion AI, they will all try and cluster around you most of the time, instead of being smart and coming up the other stairway and attacking you from behind. That will also give you time to rebuild your stamina while you go for a little jog. After you whittle em down a bit, the push becomes less and less pronounced.

 

[Sordid]

I've actually had a few bad encounters with enemies going around and sticking a blade in my back. Hence my policy of only boarding when I seriously outnumber the enemy. As for this particular quest, it's one of those inconsequential randomly generated ones which aren't worth worrying about, so I'd say let him blow himself up and move on.